"We are just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year"
-Pink Floyd
"Hate is a strong word, Athena" Apollo scolded.
"And I mean it wholeheartedly!" I huffed in annoyance.
Ares shooted me a disapproving look but chose not to say anything.
"It's not even that bad! If you weren't so stubborn maybe you could actually enjoy it." Apollo tried to reason with me.
"What part of this is even remotely enjoyable? It's a waste of time and money. Cleaning the house could be more fun than" I pause to move my hands around in a dramatic manner "... Than this!" I finish with a disgusted expression.
"You don't mean that." Matteo scowled at me.
He's right. I don't. But will I admit that he is right? Obviously not. Like his ego isn't already big enough...
"Why can't we just go home?" I whined.
"Athena we have barely visited four shops. You need to buy things for yourself. Do you see Noah complaining?" Atlas sighed.
I looked for Noah and found him looking excitedly through the stuff that he bought. The sight of him brought a soft smile to my face. He has never had lots of toys or clothes so this is pretty new to him. It's expected to be excited.
I, on the other hand, not so much. Don't get me wrong, I like everything new that I got so far but I can't help but feel guilty. They're spending all their money on me and I have no way of repaying them. I don't want them to think that I'm taking advantage of their wealth. And deep down I know that it's stupid to think like that but my brain just likes to point out that kind of stuff.
"I just don't want you to spend your money on me." I admit, defeated.
"Athena it will make absolute no difference in our bank accounts. No matter how many things you buy. Seriously you don't have to worry about it." Apollo assured me quickly.
I exhaled a deep breath and finally nodded. "Okay..."
"Okay?" Apollo asked.
"Okay" I said with a smile
He clapped and threw his arm over my shoulder. We started to walk while engaging into different conversations.
"You know this is starting to be our thing." I said with a grin.
"What is?" He asked confused.
"Okay... Okay? Okay." I answered trying to imitate his voice.
He grinned back and nodded. "We have a thing." He said excitedly.
"We do!" I said with a chuckle.
He just grinned bigger and walked with me into a shop.
That's how the rest of the morning went. We bought clothes for me and Noah, school supplies that Alex had forgot and some things for our rooms. We even got a huge dog bed for Cade to sleep in.
Finally, after some excruciatingly long hours we headed toward the cars and loaded our stuff in the back.
Due to the quantity of them we wisely decided beforehand to take two different cars.
I drove back with Apollo and Matteo while Noah was with Atlas and Ares.
On our way back we blasted music through the speakers and sang loudly along with the songs. I got lucky because I got stuck with the fun brothers. Not that I don't like the others it's just that these past few days I have noticed that everyone has its own qualities.
Like I said before, Apollo and Matteo are the fun ones, Alex and Leo are the "parents", always acting so serious. It's unnecessary most of the time if you ask me. Anthony is the mother hen, caring and loving, definetly the person that you should go to for comfort. Enzo and Ares are the hotheads although they do have a caring side. It's just that they only show it around family. Finally, Atlas is the calm and collected one, like my little Noah.
It doesn't even take thirty minutes until we reach home. Atlas and Ares help me bring my stuff up in my room while the others help Noah. As soon as they put them down and get out I fall face first onto my bed. I let out a muffled groan and turn around so that now I am laying on my back. Who knew that shopping could be so exhausting.
I decide to take a nap since I'm not really hungry. We ate back at the food court after a lot of whining from Matteo, insisting that he is 'a growing boy who should be well fed'. I roll my eyes at the memory and move around until I am comfortable. Not even five minutes later I'm out like light.
***
I was awakened from my nap by a knock on my door. I groaned but didn't make any move to get up. I just snuggled closer in my covers trying to fall back asleep.
I was startled once again, though, by a person entering my room. "Athena, are you up?" Ares asked.
"No" I mumbled, sleepily.
"Come on, get up. I want to talk to you about something." He said impatiently.
I huff in annoyance. I do not appreciate it when people interrupt my nap time.
"Why bother knocking if you're just gonna come inside anyway?" I asked, irritated.
"Because it's the nice thing to do and I'm trying to be a better person. Did you already forget?" He smiled smugly at me.
I sit up, still under my covers and give him a blank stare.
"The whole point of knocking is waiting for the other person to reply so you have consent of entering the room. It's a matter of privacy, Ares."
He scoffed "Right, privacy. In a house full of guys... Keep dreaming sweetheart. You're lucky I even considered to knock before I entered in order to warn you."
"But what if I was changing? You're supposed to wait until I let you in. I can't always be alarmed and ready for someone to just enter my room. You need to ask for permission!" I exclaim, starting to get aggravated.
"That's why I knocked!" He responds annoyed.
"Yeah but you didn't wait for an answer!"
"Why would I wait for an answer? What if you were busy and you couldn't answer me?"
I look at him dumbfounded. "Thats the whole point! If I was busy I wouldn't let you in! I would've told you to wait or something"
He frowns "Why wouldn't you let me in? There has to be a reason for coming to your room, I wouldn't just come here for fun. I would obviously want to tell you something. Is this a subtle way to kick me out?"
I stare at him with my mouth open, astonished with his train of thought. "Honestly... I don't even know why I bothered explaining. Did you need something?"
"Yeah... " He says, plopping down beside me on the bed.
I look at him, waiting for further explanation. He gives me none.
"Would you like to elaborate-"
"You said we would talk about your nightmare in the morning but we didn't. So I came here to talk about it." He says nonchalantly.
I don't know how to respond. So I don't. He turns to look at me while I keep my head down, avoiding eye contact.
"Listen, I don't want to push you into telling me something that you're not comfortable with. Just know that whenever you're ready to talk I'll be here. Whatever it is you want to talk about." He offers me a smile which I return.
I nod. "Thank you."
"Alright, I'm gonna go now. You know where my room is if you need anything." He begins to walk away. "Actually, you can go to one of the others if that's the case. Coming to me should be your last resort."
I nod and give him a tight lipped smile while he walks out of my room.
"Hey! Close the door!" I shout after him but he's already gone.
I huff in annoyance and stand up to close the door while shaking my head in disappointment.
These boys have no sense of privacy whatsoever.
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I really like this chapter. Vote and comment!
-A